Wedding!

I arrived at Natasha's wedding and little did I know . . . I was the maid of honor! I remember something in my cloudy Russian about having to sign something during the ceremony--evidently it was the marriage certificate.

The wedding was a wonderful mix of cultures. We started by putting a penny in her shoe, for good luck in money of course. Andrei arrived outside and walked past all the women of the family asking for the bride. They all yelled, "No! No!", and he must pay more and more money as he got closer to the door. They opened one lock, and he asked for the bride. We said "No", of course, and then he asked again and we opened the door.

Natasha was dressed in a big white dress, the men in tuxedos. They gave Andrei three glasses of water--one sweet, one bitter and one salty. They made him choose one of the three, and it would reflect how their marriage would be. Of course he got the sweet water--we're not dumb. They were all sweet.

We piled into an incredibly decorated car in our regular spots: bride in the middle back, I was to her right, the groom to her left and the best man in front. We did the traditional Turkmen deal--traveling around the city to all the pretty places and taking pictures of the four of us. That was over in a just a few long hours. We then went to the groom's house and made a few toasts. Everyone then left (around 3) and we relaxed for a while.

At about 7 we all got dolled up again and piled into the car. We arrived at the restaurant in our orderly line, from the left me, Andrei, Natasha, and the best man. We sat down at the head table. I was fortunate enough to have a giant cake in front of my face. There were most of the normal proceedings--lots of toasting and presents. There was a great part where the bride "lost" her shoe, and they took a collection of money to buy her a new shoe--in manat. I don't know how much they made from that trick, but it was cute. We drank a pretty large amount of champagne, but not nearly as much as the 'friends' table drank of vodka.

The whole process was great, but the best part was the four of us going back to Natasha and Andrei's new apartment at 11 (the national curfew), drinking wine, talking about the wedding, and opening presents. I don't think many American couples hang out with the wedding party AFTER the wedding. When the men went out to smoke, we gossiped and told secrets--we assume they were doing the same :)

All in all, for my first wedding, it was pretty successful! Cross culture experiences, here I come!